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| - The forces of eastern Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Saturday congratulated Libyans on the selection a day earlier of an interim executive to lead the country until December elections. Libya has been mired in violent turmoil, principally in recent years between the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and a rival administration backed by Haftar in the east. On Friday, the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, comprised of 75 participants selected by the UN to represent a broad cross-section of society, chose between proposed line-ups for four executive positions in the new authority. "The general command of the (pro-Haftar) Libyan Armed Forces bless and congratulate the Libyan people on the results of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum under the aegis of the United Nations mission in Libya... which succeeded in electing a new executive authority," said Haftar spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari. He also congratulated the "patriotic figures" of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, selected as interim prime minister, and east Libyan diplomat Mohammad Younes Menfi, chosen as head of the three-member presidency council, representing Libya's three main regions. It is the first reaction from the eastern Libyan camp, and comes a day after Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the outgoing GNA, wished the new executive "success in their mission". The accord, widely welcomed by the international community, is seen as marking the start of a new chapter for Libya after the failure of a 2015 UN-brokered deal that established the GNA. rb/hme/bfi/lg/dwo
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